Watching the movie Food Inc. a few weeks ago really opened my eyes! Since then, I've been on a quest... I want to know where the food I'm buying comes from and how much it has been processed. I want to know that the food we eat is good for our health.
So, here are a few changes in my food shopping habits...
- Beef: only buying grass-fed beef as much as possible. Cattle grown on a diet of grains (corn, soy) produces beef with much higher cholesterol content. It has been associated with health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. It is also more often contaminated with the E. coli bacteria. Grass-fed beef is produced by local farmers on organic farms (no pesticides!).
- Pork and Chicken: only buying pasture-raised pork and free-range chicken from local farmers... they are fresher, healthier for us and taste better!
- Produce: still buying from the grocery store but choosing locally grown produce as much as possible... depending on availability.
- Milk: only buying non-homogenized, but pasteurized, milk from now on. This is, surprisingly, available at a corner produce store very near our house! There's been quite a bit of research done on the health risks of drinking homogenized milk (that is skim, 1%, 2% and 3.25%). Non-homogenized milk is pure, not processed. It comes from local dairy farms that are organic (no pesticides!).
- Other Groceries: avoiding the middle section of the grocery store as much as possible! It is a healthier practice to shop the perimeter of the grocery store --- breads and produce section, dairy section, meat section! I will be avoiding the aisles where most, if not all, of the processed foods are.
I've been shopping this way for a couple of weeks now... as a result, we are eating better as a family! Most surprising of all, I thought buying and eating this way would be very expensive... but I've found out that it's not! I'd say it's maybe 25% more... but, in my opinion, it's worth it!
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